Uber Partners with Leading Organizations to Help Combat Human Trafficking

All US Driver Partners to Receive In-App Resources to Help Identify
and Report Suspected Cases

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Pledging its commitment to help end human trafficking, Uber has
partnered with leading organizations to provide education and awareness
to ALL driver-partners across the United States, including
launching a new effort to promote the National Human Trafficking
Hotline, which is operated by Polaris.

Globally, an estimated 25 million people are victims of human
trafficking, being forced to work or provide commercial sex against
their will. Human trafficking often affects the most vulnerable in our
communities, whether adults, teens or children.

“Uber connects millions of people daily all around the globe, and
drivers are uniquely positioned to help identify and ultimately prevent
human trafficking,” said Tracey Breeden, Uber Safety Communications.
“Working together with our national partners, we will utilize our
innovation and technology along with the scope and scale of our global
community to commit to helping prevent and raise awareness and empower
community heroes. Together we can help
disrupt and end human trafficking in the cities we serve.

Since 2015, Uber has worked with the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children (NCMEC), ECPAT-USA,
and The McCain institute to develop resources for drivers to help
identify and report human trafficking. Uber is the first and only
company in the on-demand space to sign the The
Code to protect children from trafficking. Now, working with
Polaris, Uber will be proactively providing a way for driver-partners to
be aware of and feel comfortable reaching out to the National Human
Trafficking Hotline.

“Both research and experience operating the National Human Trafficking
Hotline has shown us that ride sharing services like Uber have a
significant role to play in disrupting human trafficking and helping
survivors to find freedom,” Said Bradley Miles, CEO of Polaris.
“Ensuring that drivers who recognize the signs of human trafficking know
that the Hotline is available and can help is an important step toward
turning awareness into action and making a real difference in people’s
lives.”

The Polaris hotline, (888) 373-7888, will be provided to drivers via an
in-app message going out to all U.S. drivers this month during Human
Trafficking Awareness Month. The message will also include the
educational information developed with our expert partners and is also
available online.

“I first met with UBER’s team over 4 years ago to encourage them to
become involved in the fight against human trafficking before the
Arizona Super Bowl. I am so pleased that today, Uber is informing all
drivers in the U.S. on the warning signs of trafficking and we are
seeing a tangible effect of these efforts in victims being rescued and
traffickers arrested,” said Cindy McCain of The
McCain Institute Human Trafficking Advisory Council. “I applaud
their dedication to this issue and the McCain Institute is pleased to
partner with UBER to continue to educate drivers nationally and
internationally to spot the signs of human trafficking and know what
steps to take if they suspect it.”

Uber has also partnered with Thorn to support their work building
technology to defend children from sexual abuse. Thorn builds powerful
products, leads new programs, maintains essential resources, and
develops awareness campaigns to attack the issue.

“Our recent Survivor Insights report found that 2
out of 3 of child sex trafficking survivors never knew help
resources were available to them during their abuse,” said Julie Cordua,
CEO of Thorn.
“Partnering with Uber is an opportunity to ensure that we are attacking
this issue from all sides, and today we are empowering drivers to
provide help to those in crisis. When we work together we can build a
world where every child can be a kid.

In December 2016, a Sacramento area driver helped a girl, aged 16,
escape from a human trafficking operation. He noticed suspicious
behavior during a trip and reported it to police. He was honored
by NCMEC with the Hope Award in 2017. From Phoenix to Philadelphia,
drivers have been credited with helping break up operations and aiding
victims from human trafficking.

“Child sex trafficking is a significant problem in our country. In 2017
alone, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children responded to
more than 10,000 reports of possible child sex trafficking,” said John
Clark, the National
Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s President and CEO.
“Reporting is a critical first step in helping these children and it’s
important that more people know how to identify this crime when they see
it. Every report is an opportunity to bring the victims the care they
need and the justice they deserve.”

The information being sent to drivers this month includes tips on how to
spot potential human trafficking and ways to report it. Information will
also be sent to riders in Minneapolis ahead of the “The Big Game.”

“As soon as Uber’s Safety team learned about the role they could play in
protecting children, they took action. Uber was the first company in the
on-demand transportation sector to officially sign The Code, ECPAT-USA’s
pledge against trafficking,” said Carol Smolenski Executive Director of
ECPAT-USA. “We applaud their commitment to preventing human trafficking
of any kind on the platform and sharing educational materials that help
prepare drivers to recognize the signs associated with the sexual
exploitation of children.”

Human trafficking is a problem that impacts all cities and all forms of
transportation. The International
Labour Organization estimates there are 25 million victims of human
trafficking globally. Polaris
estimates that the total number of victims nationally reaches into the
hundreds of thousands when estimates of both adults and minors and sex
trafficking and labor trafficking are aggregated.

Learn more from our partners about how to identify and report human
trafficking here.